Breathe
by theFlyingHobbit
Summary: A look into the lives of the members of the Red Lotus - their pain, their hopes, and their motivations.


_Let go your earthly tether._

_Enter the void._

_Empty…_

…_and become wind._

A young boy ran after a paper kite, laughing with happiness as he watched it soar in the sky. His family lived a simple life in a small corner of the Earth Kingdom, but the had managed to save enough for this small luxury.

"Mother!" He ran up to her with string in hand. "Look how high it can fly!"

"Very good," she replied absentmindedly. She didn't have the time to pay attention to her son's smile, because there was dinner to be made and clothes to wash.

Birds flew circles above the little village they lived in, almost as if they were raven eagles waiting for their next meal.

The boy continued flying his kite, refusing to share with the other children, until he was called home.

"One day, I'm going to fly!" the boy exclaimed, returning to a childlike excitement as he scooped rice into his mouth. "Take to the skies just like the Avatar."

His father's expression darkened. "When will you stop your childish fantasies and keep your head out of the clouds? The Avatar exists for the people, and yet here we are, starving day and night." He slammed his hand on the table. "We slave away and what do we gain? Nothing."

Later that night, before he went to bed, the boy crawled onto the roof. His father was sitting there, as usual. It was the place where he felt most at peace.

"I am sorry I was so angry earlier," his father said softly.

"It's alright," the boy replied, putting a hand on his father's shoulder. "You're right. I should keep my feet grounded, help others on the earth. When I'm older, I swear I will make everyone's lives better. The Queen may not care for people, but I do."

"But do not think you can't learn from the air nomads." his father continued, ruffling his hair affectionately. "I'm afraid much of it has been lost since the Fire Nation destroyed them, but through research I've picked up some things."

"What is it?"

"We are constantly living between life and death, good and evil. One push in the wrong direction, and we fall. Just like with air. We take it for granted, but without it, we would not survive. Air is an essential element of life. Life is given, and can just as easily be taken away. This balance must exist for the world to be at peace. Constant chaos is an idea some of the ancients meditated on."

The boy listened, enraptured by his father's words.

"Think on it, my son. We all have many things to learn from the four nations. Even if they do not realize it."

"Of course, Father."

"You're a good boy, Zaheer. You will grow up to be a fine man."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The cheering was music to his ears, and Ghazan smirked. The perfect audience for his perfect stunt yet. This was the moment he had been preparing for.

He turned a small coin of earth around his fingers and waited for his cue. As soon as the lights went out, he stepped forward onto the stage. Muffled whispers came from behind the curtain, the panicked crew trying to figure out why on earth the lights weren't turning back on.

Turning the coin faster and faster in his fingers, Ghazan walked up to the microphone.

"Ahem." The mic gave a loud squeal of feedback and there were many gasps and shouts from the crowd.

"Sorry about that," Ghazan continued. "And sorry about the lights. You see, I like to make a very dramatic entrance. It's part of my job."

By this time, people were whispering, confused. They had come here, the largest theatre in Republic City, to watch a renowned musician play, and this was completely unexpected.

_Too bad that musician is, ahem, "sleeping" in the alleyway,_ Ghazan mused.

The earth he held began to glow, fire-hot red. "Ah there," Ghazan chuckled. "A little bit of light to...illuminate things."

Voices behind the curtain turned silent, giving him all the space he needed. He took a deep breath. Ah, this was the life.

"Never seen a lavabender before? You wealthy aristocrats don't know nothing. You see, I grew up in a small corner of Republic City, sorting through trash to find food to eat. And you all sat in your fancy, innovative houses, happily taking walks with your iguana parrots. I'm past that now, as you can tell. See, I'm here on stage in front of all of you." He paused for dramatic effect. "And while you lot have been giggling and whispering about how cool this is…"

He snapped his fingers the glow disappeared.

"I believe you will find your pockets significantly emptier."

When the lights finally turned back on, Ghazan was gone, laughing boisterously through the dark alleys of Republic City.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She remembered watching the otter penguins, with their four arms, wondering whether or not the spirits could grant her one of theirs. Just one, so that maybe the village wouldn't whisper about her, saying she could never do much. Not without arms.

"I'll show them," she muttered. "I can do things just as well without arms as they can."

But still...waterbending was hard to learn without arms. It was a skill acquired through years of training, starting with the basics and working up to mastery. Only the great waterbenders could bend water with their mind and feet, but she had only just begun.

The others in her tribe sneered at her, wondered why her parents had even kept her when she was born. In a city that revered perfection and balance, Ming-Hua was terribly out of place. At least she was missing _both_ arms, instead of just one. That would invert the balance even more.

_Alright, breathe. Concentrate on the water. Feel it around you._ In her spare time, she had spent long hours studying waterbending forms. Committing them to memory.

For a moment, she swore the water moved. But then an otter penguin popped it's head out from under an ice floe, creating ripples across the surface of the water.

Ming-Hua kept at it. She knew these forms just as well as she knew herself. All she needed to do was learn how to use them.

It took a bandit raid to unlock the secrets of her mind. Alarms surged through the city, warning its citizens of what was coming.

In the midst of the following chaos, Ming-Hua helped direct people to safe places. She didn't have arms, but she did have a distinctive voice, something people could latch on to through the shouting and fighting.

"Get to safety! Let the warriors do their jobs!" Ming-Hua growled, pushing a child into his mother's arms. She made her way through the city, towards her home, continuously pushing people into safe places. If there was one thing she could do, it was scream.

She skidded on her heels when she found her parents and some other members of the tribe cornered by three bandits. One of them wore a mask, and a glove that crackled with electricity.

Acting faster than she thought possible, Ming-Hua slid and tripped one of the men, instantly whirling around to kick the second one.

"Run!" she ordered, and the others scurried away, except for her father and mother, who joined her in the struggle.

Suddenly her father cried out, voice hoarse, begging her mother to get out of the way.

The masked bandit stood poised, ready to strike with deadly accuracy. Ming-Hua screamed, reaching out a hand she didn't have to try and save her mother.

She hit her mark. A great tendril of water shot out and slammed into the bandit's gut, knocking him into the building meters behind him.

Her father gasped. "Ming-Hua...I can't believe it."

She couldn't either, but there was no time to dwell on it. This was her moment. It suddenly all seemed to click. She leapt forward, agile and flexible, water propelling her through the icy air.

"Die," she screamed, and ended the life of the one who had tried to hurt the people she loved, and yet saved her at the same time. A wooden charm fell out of his pocket as he slumped to the ground, she picked it up. The control of her newly created arms was not perfect...but that would come with time.

A strange seal gleamed back at her. Later, after a deep betrayal, she would learn whose it was, and who she needed to destroy.

Whispers rippled through the tribe that night. _Ming-Hua… waterbending… amazing… didn't stand a chance… terrible… so unexpected…_

She left that night.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Muffled words echoed around the chamber, claustrophobic and chilling. P'li covered her ears and shut her eyes, as if it could block out the beating of her heart.

"She's one of _them_. Do you know how long I've been waiting for this moment? This changes everything!"

_It's so cold. I can't feel my fingers. And my head...it hurts so much…_

"Of course we'll have to keep her in this chamber, sedated, until I learn how to control her. Shouldn't be too hard, she's still young." The warlord's laugh resonated around the room, making P'li's ears ring.

_What are they going to do with me?_

"Fire Lord Zuko once sent one of their kind after the Avatar. That killing machine almost took down the Avatar. That's how good they are."

_Killing machine?_

She wanted to explode, to release the pain and fear building up inside of her, but all she could do was curl tighter into a ball, compressing the energy spiraling within her.

"She's already losing her fighting spirit. This may be the easiest weapon I've ever made."

Suddenly footsteps sounded into hearing range.

"My liege!" a messenger gasped. "I've received word of the Red Lotus! They seem to be planning an attack. And they're targeting you!"

There was a pause, and then the warlord laughed. "Let them come. They won't stand a chance against me. Isn't that right, P'li?"

They came like fire, striking fast and deadly at the break of dawn. P'li awoke from her sleep, shouts piquing her interest.

At the words "Red Lotus" her eyes widened. This could be her chance. Perhaps these people...whoever they were...would rescue her from the warlord's plans. And so she waited, not knowing how long she would have to,

A grey blur flew through the doors, faster than lightning, knocking all the soldier's over with a long staff. They fell over, unconscious or even close to death.

P'li lifted her head. Red meeting grey. Without a word, Zaheer cut open the lock to her cell. When she tried to stand, she fell, limbs too frozen to function correctly. Though she was much larger than him, he helped her onto his back.

"Thank...you," she breathed. She felt as if her spirit had been rekindled, and a flame began to stir not only in her mind, but in her heart as well.

"No need to thank me," Zaheer replied. "It is not my gift to give, it's something you deserve."


End file.
